KIOXIA Corporation and Western Digital have jointly developed their sixth-generation, 162-layer 3D flash memory technology. Marking the next milestone in the a 20-year partnership, this is the the highest density and most advanced 3D flash memory technology to date, utilizing a wide range of technology and manufacturing innovations.
“Through our strong partnership that has spanned two decades, KIOXIA and Western Digital have successfully created unrivaled capabilities in manufacturing and R&D,” said Masaki Momodomi, Chief Technology Officer, KIOXIA. “Together, we produce over 30 percent of the world’s flash memory bits and are steadfast in our mission to provide exceptional capacity, performance and reliability at a compelling cost. We each deliver this value proposition across a range of data-centric applications from personal electronics to data centers as well as emerging applications enabled by 5G networks, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.”
This sixth-generation 3D flash memory features advanced architecture beyond conventional eight-stagger memory hole array and achieves up to 10 percent greater lateral cell array density compared to the fifth-generation technology. This lateral scaling advancement, in combination with 162 layers of stacked vertical memory, enables a 40 percent reduction in die size compared to the 112-layer stacking technology, optimizing cost.
